Here are my observations on some of the news of the day.
NOW THEY SPEAK UP – “One opinion I don’t have to stifle anymore is that the Keystone XL pipeline should have been built,” Adam Sieminski, the former administrator in the Energy Information Administration of Obama’s Energy Department confided at a recent Brookings Institution event.
President Obama rejected construction of the pipeline in November 2015 after a lengthy battle, saying the project would undermine America’s position as a global leader on climate change. President Trump reversed Obama’s decision in January and last month issued developer TransCanada the necessary cross-border permit to begin construction.
Then there are the two anonymous “senior Obama officials,” who whispered to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that President Obama would have been similarly aggressive in Syria as Trump under the circumstances.
A TWO-QUESTION QUIZ – Which state in the union has the strictest environmental laws? Which state in the union has six cities in the top 10 cities with the worst air pollution? The answer to both questions: California. Hmmmm.
BLAMING HILLARY’S LOSS has been extensively reviewed with most coverage pointing to the candidate herself. There’s a new book just published, “Shattered,” that gives a blow-by-blow on the campaign, but perhaps Andrew Sullivan said it best in his New York magazine piece, “Why Do Democrats Feel Sorry for Hillary Clinton?”
“But … but … but …” her deluded fans insist, “she won the popular vote!” But that’s precisely my point. Any candidate who can win the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes and still manage to lose the Electoral College by 304-227 is so profoundly incompetent, so miserably useless as a politician, she should be drummed out of the party under a welter of derision,” Sullivan wrote.
Feeble protest at Arizona State University in exchange for taking a final exam. (connerborgeit/The Republic)
MORE LIBERAL CAMPUS SHAME – An Arizona State University professor, Angeles Maldonado, allowed a group of students to organize anti-Trump protests instead of taking the final exam in their human-rights class. Some 20 students decided to demonstrate against the president to voice their concerns about the “perceived” human rights violations of his administration. The students made signs and formed a feeble human wall of signs to symbolize a “Wall Against Hate.” As you might expect, the Mexican-born Maldonado has participated in human rights movements in Arizona, including the organizing of protests against former Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
DON’T GET EXCITED over the showing of Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia. The media was predicting that if Ossoff achieved the required 50 percent for an outright win, it would have represented a referendum against President Trump. Ossoff, who couldn’t even vote for himself because he is not a resident of the district, ran with 97 percent of his campaign funds received from out-of-state, including Hollywood celebrities. He will now face Republican Karen Handel on June 20, to see who will take the seat formerly held by Tom Price, who was named Secretary of HHS. Look for the Dems to try to win the seat of former Rep. Ryan Zinke May 25, in Montana.
Kim Jung Un and Dennis Rodman. (latestnewslink.com)
WHERE IS JOHN KERRY WHEN WE NEED HIM? While Kerry was secretary of state, former NBA star Dennis Rodman went to North Korea in 2014 with a group of other former players to help Kim Jung Un celebrate his birthday. And, after the terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, Kerry brought James Taylor with him to sing, “You’ve Got a Friend” to express the U.S. sympathy. Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright presented Kim Jung II a basketball autographed by Michael Jordan. Those Dems really know diplomacy, don’t they?
